First Impressions
by WinterSky101
Summary: Roy and Kaldur's relationship did not, perhaps, start off on the right foot. Pre-series.


"Would you stop _squirming_?"

Aqualad - _"Since we are not in costume, you may call me Kaldur'ahm,"_ he'd said, but that was way too weird and unpronounceable a name for Roy to call him by - went still, looking a little embarrassed.

"I apologize," he said in his oddly formal way. Roy had thought at first that it was because of his unfamiliarity with English, but now he was pretty sure that it was just how Aqualad talked. "These clothes are… uncomfortable."

"What's so uncomfortable about them?" Roy asked, looking at Aqualad with a raised eyebrow. He was wearing black pants, a high-collared jacket, and a pair of ugly sandals. It didn't look that uncomfortable to Roy, but he had no idea what Atlanteans normally wore.

"The collar," Aqualad replied, tugging it away from his neck. "I am not used to wearing things that cover my gills."

"Well, get used to it," Roy replied, looking around to make sure no one was paying attention to their conversation. "Part of having a secret identity means no one can know you're Atlantean. The gills are a pretty good giveaway."

"Many Atlanteans do not have gills," Aqualad protested, sounding almost a little petulant.

"Yeah, but no humans have them," Roy retorted. "Stop squirming!"

Aqualad put his hands at his sides and held them rigidly with the sort of posture that would look more natural on a soldier than a fourteen year old boy. Not for the first or last time, Roy cursed Oliver for making him babysit the kid. It wasn't officially _called_ babysitting, of course, but Oliver and Aquaman had run off with a quick, _"Show Aqualad around! He hasn't spent much time on the surface before,"_ leaving Roy with a very quiet, very squirmy Atlantean. They could call it whatever they wanted; it was _definitely_ babysitting.

"Look," Roy finally said. Somehow, Aqualad being still and tense was even more obnoxious than him squirming. "Can we… I don't know, wrap something else around your gills to hide them? Would that work better?"

Aqualad tugged at his collar again. "We could try," he said doubtfully. "Could we do something looser?"

Roy frowned. "I don't think something looser will hide the gills."

"Could we just go back to Green Arrow's house, then?" Aqualad asked. "I have little interest in exploring the surface anyway."

"My job is to show you around," Roy snapped. "I'm gonna show you around."

Aqualad tugged at his collar, his lips turned slightly downward in what Roy would swear was a pout. "Very well."

Roy took Aqualad around to a few of the main landmarks in Star City, then they wandered back to Oliver's house, where Aqualad eagerly took off his jacket and not-so-eagerly acquiesced to Roy's tour of the house. When Oliver and Aquaman finally returned, Aqualad began babbling at his mentor in fast-paced, disgruntled Atlantean, and Roy figured this would probably be the last time he was asked to babysit another hero's sidekick.

Except it wasn't.

* * *

"Look, I'm not any happier about this than you are," Roy grumbled. "So you can quit giving me the silent treatment or whatever you're doing over there."

"I am attempting to distract myself," Aqualad replied, his voice sounding extraordinarily prissy for a fourteen year old boy.

"Distract yourself from what?"

"How uncomfortable this jacket is."

Roy rolled his eyes. "Oh, for Christ's sake. Would you quit whining about the stupid jacket?"

"I told you, I am not used to having things covering my gills," Aqualad protested. "There would be no reason to cover them in Atlantis."

"Well, there is reason now," Roy replied. "Get used to it."

Aqualad pursed his lips a little and turned away from Roy, looking out across the rest of the café. "Why do we need to be here?"

"Cause we're staking out the warehouse across the street," Roy replied. "What, you've never done a stakeout before?"

Aqualad shot him an annoyed look. "I have participated in many such endeavors, but I have normally attempted to hide while doing so. We are watching the building in plain sight."

"That's why we have secret identities," Roy retorted. "No one's gonna think it's weird if two teenagers sit here and drink some coffee. Or…" He peered into Aqualad's mug. "Is that tea?"

"I enjoy tea," Aqualad replied huffily.

"Whatever," Roy muttered. "No one's gonna think it's weird if we sit here. And then we can go back tonight with Green Arrow and Aquaman, and no one will ever put the pieces together."

"It seems unnecessarily risky to even have the pieces available," Aqualad retorted.

"Look, you're not fooling me. I know you just want to take your jacket off cause you're a whiney brat."

Aqualad scowled. "I am not a _brat_."

"If the shoe fits."

"These shoes do _not_ fit. They are extraordinarily uncomfortable."

"Let me guess, you've never worn shoes before either?" Roy asked dryly.

"There is no reason to in Atlantis," Aqualad replied, so apparently, the answer to that was actually yes. Roy hadn't been expecting that.

"Well, there is reason to here," Roy replied. "So quit whining so much and just suck it up."

Aqualad scowled. "Suck _what_ up?"

Roy blinked. "What?"

Aqualad's scowl deepened. "You said to 'suck it up.' I do not know what I am supposed to suck."

Roy stared, then burst out laughing. Aqualad stared at him for a moment, then huffed and crossed his arms tightly over his chest.

"Get your mentor to teach you slang," Roy said when he finally stopped laughing. "And contractions too. You sound way too stuffy for a kid."

"I am not a _kid_ ," Aqualad grumbled.

"You're fourteen, that's a kid." Of course, Roy was only sixteen himself, but he was certain those two years made a very big difference.

Aqualad kept his arms crossed the entire rest of the time they waited at the café, and when they returned to their mentors, he and Aquaman engaged in the same quick Atlantean back-and-forth that they had done last time. Roy was certain that Aqualad was whining about him again. He was equally certain that he didn't care.

He couldn't _wait_ until Aquaman and Aqualad went back into the stupid ocean and finally left him alone.

* * *

Aqualad looked much more comfortable in his suit than he looked in his civilian clothing. Roy really hoped this was the last time he had to see him in either outfit for a long time.

"Okay," he said as they looked down at the warehouse from the suspended walkway. Green Arrow and Aquaman were off putting a stop to a Venom deal, and Aqualad and Roy were in charge of making sure to catch any associates who escaped back to their warehouse. It wasn't a hard mission, but Roy didn't like having to do it with a partner. "Make sure you listen to what I say. I don't want to have to explain it to Aquaman if you get yourself killed."

"I am not going to get myself killed," Aqualad protested, but Roy ignored him. Just because he begrudgingly had to babysit didn't mean he had to listen to the kid's whining too.

A few of the Venom-dealing thugs ran into the building, looking desperate. Roy grinned. "Showtime."

He shot one of his foam trick arrows at the crowd and caught three of the five dealers in it. Aqualad used his water-bearers to trap the other two, then Roy shot a net arrow that covered both of them. He turned back to Aqualad, grinning. "Not bad, kid."

"Speedy, watch out!" Aqualad cried.

Roy turned just in time to feel a fist slam into his jaw. He staggered back half a step, his jaw throbbing.

They probably should have expected that there would be someone hopped up on Venom present at the deal.

The woman laughed. "I get the little sidekicks, I see. Cute."

"I'm not a sidekick," Roy snapped, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He'd bitten the inside of his cheek when she hit him. "And you're going down."

"Am I?" the woman asked. She pulled her fist back again, but this time, Aqualad caught it with a whip of water from his water-bearers. He pulled her forward, but she was only off-balance for a moment before she lurched forward and grabbed Aqualad.

She grinned. "Going down," she said, and then she threw the two of them off the walkway.

"Aqualad!" Roy yelled, fumbling with his quiver to get a grappling hook arrow. The woman twisted in midair so that Aqualad was beneath her, and Roy heard the loud _crash_ when they hit the ground. He could only hope that Aqualad's dense Atlantean physiology could withstand it better than a human would, because a human would be seriously, _seriously_ hurt.

Roy finally found the proper arrow and shot it up at the ceiling. Once it locked into place, he jumped off the walkway, lowering down to the ground. He heard the woman say something to Aqualad, but it was too quiet for him to catch. Then her hands moved to his neck and did something he couldn't see, and then Aqualad _screamed_.

It was a horrible, bone-chilling noise. Roy's stomach lurched uncomfortably. All joking aside, Aquaman would never forgive him if Aqualad died under his watch, and Roy didn't think he'd ever forgive himself either.

The woman stood, leaving Aqualad gasping and whimpering in pain beneath her. "You should check on your little fish," she told Roy, stepping away from him and heading to the door. "I'd be quick if I were you."

Roy reached for an arrow that could stop her, but the woman was gone before he could find one. Aqualad was still making those horrible, pained noises, so Roy dropped his bow and scrambled to his side. "Aqualad, oh God, Aqualad, are you okay?"

Aqualad's eyes were wide and terrified, as well as glassy and not quite focused. Roy reached for his neck to feel for his pulse, but Aqualad let out a pained moan the second he made contact, and Roy yanked his hand away. There were long scratches across his gills, seeping blood out onto the floor. Given how sensitive his gills always seemed to be…

"Okay," Roy muttered to himself, "stay away from his neck." He reached for Aqualad's wrist instead, feeling for his pulse. It was thready and weak. _Shock_ , the clinical part of Roy's mind that actually listened to Dinah's first-aid lessons diagnosed. Unfortunately, not even that part of his mind remembered what he was supposed to do in this sort of situation.

 _"Speedy?"_ a familiar voice said over the comm unit Roy had forgotten was in his ear. _"Aquaman and I have wrapped things up on our end, but we saw a couple of guys run. Did you catch anyone at the warehouse?"_

"Ol- Green Arrow," Roy corrected. He hadn't made _that_ mistake for a while. "I- I need help."

 _"What's wrong?"_ Oliver demanded immediately. _"Are you okay?"_

"Aqualad is down," Roy replied. "He's… He's bleeding, and he fell, and I think he's going into shock. I don't know what to do."

 _"We're on our way,"_ Oliver replied. _"Just stay with him. Does it seem like he has any broken bones?"_

"I don't know," Roy said, scanning Aqualad. "He hit the ground really hard, but…"

 _"Okay. Don't move him, then. Where's the bleeding?"_

"His gills. I… He _screamed_ , and he's bleeding, and-"

 _"We're almost there,"_ Oliver said, trying to sound soothing despite the obvious worry in his voice. _"Aquaman says not to touch his gills. Is there a blanket or anything there that you can cover him with? Any way you can keep him warm?"_

"Uh…" Roy scanned the room. "There's a tarp, is that okay?"

 _"That'll do,"_ Oliver replied. _"We're almost there, Speedy. You're doing great."_

"Tell Aquaman I'm sorry," Roy said, going to the tarp and gathering it up in his arms. "I… I should have been paying better attention, I-"

 _"This wasn't your fault,"_ Oliver said firmly. _"We shouldn't have left the two of you alone. Neither Aquaman nor I blame you at all."_

The doors to the warehouse burst open just as Roy laid the tarp over Aqualad's still-trembling body. Aquaman raced forward, putting one hand on Aqualad's forehead as he murmured something in Atlantean to him.

"Aquaman?" Oliver asked cautiously.

"I will bring him to Atlantis," Aquaman said, gathering up Aqualad, tarp and all. "We will be able to help him more there."

"Will he be okay?" Roy asked.

"I believe so," Aquaman replied, clutching Aqualad tight to his chest. "I will keep you updated."

He disappeared through the warehouse doors before Roy or Oliver could say anything else. Roy looked at Oliver, aware that his hands were still trembling, and Oliver let out a sigh and pulled him in for a hug.

"He'll be okay," he said softly, but Roy's ears were still ringing with Aqualad's scream, and he wasn't sure he could believe it.

* * *

"My king told me you were worried for me."

"Aqualad?" Roy whirled around to see that Aqualad was indeed standing behind him, wearing his high-collared jacket and his stupid shoes. "How did you sneak up on me like that?"

"You were not paying attention," Aqualad replied.

"Yeah, but how did you get in Oliver's house?"

Aqualad tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Did no one tell you? My king and the Green Arrow are working together again, and given your worry over my condition, it was decided that I should visit you as well."

"No one told _me_ that," Roy muttered petulantly.

Aqualad ducked his head. "Apologies. I will take my leave."

"What? No, no, you don't have to _leave_." Roy gestured vaguely at the sofa. "Sit down. We can do something. Uh, you can take off that jacket if you want. No one can see your gills here."

"The jacket does not bother me at the moment," Aqualad replied. He tugged the collar down so Roy could see the bandages beneath it. "Despite my queen's sorcery, three days is not enough to heal the cuts entirely, although it has been enough to heal most of the bruises."

Guilt churned in Roy's stomach. "Look, I'm sorry. I should have been paying more attention. It was my fault."

"You were not at fault," Aqualad replied. "I also should have been more aware of our surroundings, and I should not have allowed that woman to throw me over the side of the walkway as she did. If I had fought back more effectively, I would have never been in the situation she put me in."

"You're, uh, you're okay, then?" Roy asked. "You know, after that fall."

"I told you, the bruises are mostly healed."

"You fell that hard and you only had bruises?" Roy asked. "Jeez. You Atlanteans _are_ dense. How did she even manage to cut your skin?"

"My gills are far more sensitive, and the skin around them is thinner," Aqualad replied. "And her strength was enhanced by the Venom."

"Your gills will be okay, right?" Roy asked tentatively. How would Aqualad breathe underwater if his gills were hurt? How _did_ he breathe underwater with his gills like that? Didn't Aquaman take him back to Atlantis?

"They will make a full recovery," Aqualad replied. "My queen does not even expect that there will be scars."

"That's good," Roy replied. "I, uh, I was worried that if anything happened to you, Aquaman would replace you with someone even _more_ annoying."

One side of Aqualad's mouth quirked upwards slightly. "As much as I hate to disabuse you of the notion, I believe you ought to know that just because English is not my first language and does not yet come naturally to me does not mean that I cannot recognize when someone is lying."

Roy's eyebrows went up. "Is that sarcasm?"

"If you are going to employ it, I might as well do the same," Aqualad replied. His face was mostly serene, but his lips were curved in just the slightest suggestion of a grin.

"I think you're gonna be more fun than I thought," Roy said. "Maybe we got off on the wrong foot."

Aqualad's tiny smile wavered a little. "We what?"

"Uh, started the wrong way."

"Ah." Aqualad nodded. "But I believe you have a saying here on the surface, 'everything is well if the ending goes well'?"

Roy grinned. "Yeah, all's well that ends well."

"Indeed. And I would say that things have ended fairly well, would you not?"

Roy's grin widened. "Yeah, I think they have. Uh, Cal-der-am." He winced a little as he said the name, aware that he was butchering it horribly. He hoped mispronouncing the name wasn't some huge Atlantean insult.

Aqualad's eyes lit up, and his smile widened. "A noble attempt," he complimented. "I am aware that my name is not easy for people who are not used to Atlantean to pronounce." He shot Roy an almost shy look. "My friends call me Kaldur."

Roy smiled back. "Hi, Kaldur. My friends call me Roy."


End file.
